Right Place Right Time
by ieatmyfeelings
Summary: What happens if it's Draco and the Malfoy's who find a confused Harry Potter trying to get onto Platform 9 3/4?
1. Chapter 1

Hi guys! Here is a wonderful little story that I wrote that was inspired by a tumblr post! I don't know if I want to make this a one-shot or a full story, guess that depends on the feedback I get from this! It's not my favourite bit of writing unfortunately (just technicality wise) but I like the plot. So let me know if you want this a one-shot or a full length story!

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 _"I am in so much trouble!"_ a very confused and panicked Harry Potter though morosely. When Hagrid had given the elven year old, knobby kneed wizard his ticket for the Hogwarts express he had definitely not explained how to get onto Platform 9 ¾ and now it was ten thirty and Harry still had not found the train. Harry stood at the barrier between platforms 9 and 10 staring at the wall wondering if this had all been an elaborate prank done by the Dursleys, when he heard a familiar voice. Harry turned around quickly to see the blonde boy he had met at Madam Melkin's!

"Father, why do you do business with muggles? We hate muggles," the boy asked looking up at a tall man with equally blonde hair and a walking stick. The two blondes were walking towards Harry along with a regal looking woman whom Harry assumed to be the boy's mother.

The father was about to answer when Harry made eye contact with the boy, "Oh! Father, I met that boy in Diagon Alley" the boy said surprised.

Harry smiled shyly and gave a little wave as the family walked closer, "Hi" he said softly once the trio were within respectable talking distance.

The boy looked at Harry with obvious confusion, "Why are you just standing here, you are going to miss the train" he pointed out.

Harry looked down at his feet, obviously these three knew a lot more about magic then he did, "Hagrid never told me how to get onto the platform" Harry muttered shamefully.

"Hagrid?" The boy asked confused.

"Hagrid is the game keeper at Hogwarts Draco." The father informed the son…Draco, "But why…" he trailed off not knowing the raven-haired boys name.

"Oh! Harry, Harry Potter" Harry said quickly, just thankful that he would get help getting on the train.

Draco gasped softly, his eyes going wide as he looked between Harry and his parents with obvious excitement while his parents showed no reaction to the revelation.

"Harry, I was wondering why Hagrid would be telling you anything, and where are your guardians?" The father asked knowing of course that the boy was an orphan.

Harry sighed in annoyance, "My Aunt and Uncle are muggles and hate magic…and me. Hagrid had to find me and bring me my Hogwarts letter because Uncle Vernon wouldn't let me have it, Hagrid took me to get my school supplies too"

The father was about to respond when the mother quickly said "Now Lucius, you can do something about this later. Harry and Draco are going to miss their train." She said with a pointed look at her husband before turning and kneeling down to be eye to eye with the frankly too short boy. "Now Harry, all you have to do is walk towards this wall and believe you will walk right through it, and you will. That is all" she said with a smile seeing Harry's eyes widen and light up with wonder.

"Really?" the boy asked excitedly.

The mother smiled at the famous boy, "Really. Why don't you go through with Draco and Lucius and I will bring your trolly?" she suggested, hoping to encourage a friendship between the boys.

"Come on Harry!" Draco says enthusiastically grabbing Harry's hand and pulling him towards the barrier before the Boy-Who-Lived could respond.

Harry didn't even have a chance to worry about face planting into a brick wall before he was greeted with the sight of the Hogwarts Express, "Wow" he breathed as he looked at the bright red engine and all the magical sights on the platform.

"It's quite the sight isn't it" Lucius said coming to stand beside the two first years as the gawked at the train.

Harry nodded before turning back to the two parents "Thank you for bringing my trolly Mr…." he trailed off not knowing the surnames of the blondes.

"Malfoy, and you are very welcome Harry" Mrs. Malfoy spoke up from beside her husband as Lucius quickly pulled out a small parcel from his pocket and pulled his wand from his cane.

"Harry, if you move your owl we can place Draco's trunk on top of yours" Mr. Malfoy said smoothly.

Harry quickly grabbed Hedwig's cage, "Where is your trunk Draco?" he asked confused.

The blonde boy let out a surprised laugh, "In fathers hand, it's shrunken, look!" he said, excited about introducing the famous boy to magic.

Mr. Malfoy smirked, not unkindly, before quickly enlarging his son's truck and levitating on top of Harry's and with a quick featherweight charm the boys were set to go.

As Draco was saying his farewells to his mother Harry turned to Lucius, "Thank you Mr. Malfoy, I don't know what I'd have done if you hadn't come and helped me" he said sincerely.

"Think nothing of it Harry" the aristocratic blonde said before turning to his son, "I expect good grades Draco, Severus will inform me if you do not behave am I understood?" he asked sternly.

Draco nodded and replied, "Yes father" before quickly hugging the older man around the waist.

"Now onto the train you two! See you at Yule Draco!" Mrs. Malfoy says softly as she ushers the two first years onto the train.

The two first years quickly hauled their trunks and Hedwig onto the train and luckily found an empty compartment right away, once they had hoisted their trunks into the luggage racks Draco opened the window to lean out and wave at his parents as the train began moving. The older Malfoy's waved back, although with more composer than the eleven year old, and continued waving until the train was out of sight. Draco quickly closed the window and sat down on the bench opposite of the famous boy lost in thought, "Harry, I don't know what I said to upset you when we were getting fitted for our robes, but I'm sorry" Draco said sincerely, "I hope we can be friends and I don't want that to hinder any friendship we could have."

Harry sighed, he had already this morning decided to forgive the blonde boy's behavior from Madam Melkin's, as much as Draco reminded him of Dudley he also was nothing like Harry's whale of a cousin, "Draco, the reason you upset me was because you reminded me of my cousin, you were acting all superior and I didn't like it. But I would like to be friends too so I forgive you. But if you act like that again don't think I wont call you out on it" Harry finished with a playful smirk.

"Deal" the blonde said with a smile as he held out his right hand for Harry to shake.

"Deal" Harry said also smiling as he reached out and shook Draco's hand, this would be the beginning of a beautiful friendship.


	2. First Impressions

Hey everybody! Due to popular demand I have decided to make this into a full story not just a one-shot! Don't expect as frequent updates as Kiss Me Like You Want To Be Loved since that is my main focus at this time! Oh and guys I have gotten a beta! So this chapter should be way better quality then what you are use to getting from me! So a big thank you to Sablesilverrain for being an awesome Beta! Enjoy!

"Draco…my chocolate frog just moved…" Harry trails off confused a few minutes after they had bought whatever they wanted from the trolley, with a lot of input from Draco.

Draco looked over at the raven-haired boy with a chuckle, "They are supposed to Harry, you really were raised by muggles weren't you?"

Harry quickly caught his chocolate frog before it jumped out the window, "Yeah, by my mom's sister and her walrus of a husband," he grumbled as he bit into his chocolate frog, not really wanting to think about his family.

"What are muggles like? How can they survive without magic?" Draco asks curiously, not catching onto Harry's reluctance to continue on the topic.

Harry looked out the window to avoid having to look at his new friend, "They are all right I suppose; well, most of them. My...family not so much…but not all muggles are like that. As for the magic, muggles have electricity and they use science to figure out how to make their lives easier." He said with a shrug.

Draco frowned, he didn't know what electricity was, but that's not what worried him, "Harry, you said earlier your family hated…" Draco stops, being cut off by a redhead with dirt on his nose opening the compartment door.

"Hi, can I sit in here with you? Everywhere else is full," the boy asked, effectively breaking up the serious atmosphere.

Draco was about to tell the boy that no he could not sit with them, only to be cut off by Harry, "Sure, come on in."

"Thanks!" the redhead said gratefully as he hauled his trunk into the compartment, "I'm Ron Weasley, by the way," he says almost as an after thought.

Draco snorts only to be kicked in the shin by Harry, "I'm Harry Potter and this is Draco Malfoy. Is this your first year at Hogwarts, too?" Harry asked as if his name meant nothing to the rest of the wizarding world.

Ron just stares at Harry, his mouth doing a rather good impersonation of a fish, "Are you really?" he finally whispers.

Harry frowns in confusion, "Am I really what?"

"Harry Potter," Ron says as if it's obvious.

Harry's frown deepens, "Yeah, why would I lie about that?" he asks, already sick of this whole fame thing.

Ron's eyes flicker up to Harry's forehead where his fringe is firmly covering his scar, "Prove it! Show me the scar!" he exclaims.

"Seriously, Weasley, if he says he's Harry Potter he's Harry sodding Potter." Draco exclaims already annoyed at the red head, and sends Harry a glare that obviously says _"Look what you've done by inviting him in here"_ , Harry just shrugs.

"Well, I need to be sure, haven't I? Harry Potter would never hang around a Malfoy, he's trying to trick me." Ron said with his eyes narrowed in the direction of the Malfoy heir.

"Oh, for goodness sake!" Harry growls before pulling back his fringe "See, I'm Harry Potter, I have the bloody scar, and why wouldn't I hang out with Draco? He's my friend!"

Draco smiles smugly to cover up his slight blush at having the Boy-Who-Lived verbally defend him.

Ron stares at Harry, his mouth once again hanging open, "But Harry… why would you want to be around a Malfoy? His father worked for You-Know-Who, everyone knows that!"

Harry gasps quietly and quickly looks over at his friend, who gives him an apologetic look and a slight shrug of his shoulders. After a moment Harry turns back to Ron, who he's liking less and less as the minutes pass, "Draco had nothing to do with that, he was a baby same as me. And it wasn't Mr. Malfoy who killed my parents, it was Voldemort. And seriously, I met Draco's dad, he was kind to me, so why would I not want to be friends with Draco?"

Ron struggled looking for an acceptable answer for a moment before he got a smirk on his face, "Because he will be in Slytherin, like his entire family was, and you will obviously be in Gryffindor like your parents were." he says with a victorious look on his face.

Harry frowned, "What do Hogwarts Houses have to do with anything? I know Voldemort was in Slytherin but what does that have to do with Draco?" he asked getting annoyed at Ron's insistence to making Harry hate the blonde.

"What Weasley is trying to explain is the common belief that all Slytherins are evil, all Hufflepuffs are weak-willed, all Ravenclaws are brilliant, and of course that all Gryffindors are perfect," Draco drawls with an eye roll.

Harry frowns and turns to the redhead, "Really?" he asks, and once Ron nodded his confirmation Harry shakes his head in disbelief, "What a load of rubbish! I really don't see how where we get sorted has anything to do with our 'evilness,'" he says firmly before turning back to his friend. "But, speaking of houses, how do we get sorted?"

"Father says…" Draco starts, but is quickly interrupted.

"My twin brothers told me that…"

Ron starts only to trail off when Draco mutters, "Oh, here we go…"

"My brothers told me," Ron starts over again with a glare at the blonde, "that we have to fight a troll." he finishes as the compartment door opens.

"Did you just say we had to fight a troll?" a bushy-haired girl asked skeptically after she had opened the door.

"Yes, that's how we get sorted into our houses," Ron says, nodding enthusiastically.

The girl laughs, shaking her head, "That is not how we get sorted. We get sorted by the hat of Godric Gryffindor; I read it in Hogwarts, a History."

Ron blushes furiously, his ears going red before he glares at the girl, "Who asked you, what do you want?" he demands.

The girl sighs before turning to Harry and Draco, obviously done with Ron, "I'm looking for a toad, a boy named Neville has lost his."

"No, sorry….?" Harry said quickly before Ron could further disrespect the girl.

"Hermione Granger." the girl says with a smile.

"I'm Harry Potter and this is Draco Malfoy." Harry says politely before continuing with a smile once he realized the witch wasn't going to comment on his name, though her eyes did widen slightly, "We haven't seen one but if we do we'll find you, sound ok?" he asks.

"A toad? What self-respecting wizard would have a toad?" Ron blurts out with a derisive laugh.

Harry sighed, really regretting inviting the red head to sit with them, "Toads were on the list of permitted pets," he points out, "So obviously other people have them for pets."

"And Weasley, tell us, as a self-respecting wizard, what pet do you have?" Draco asks with an edge to his voice, clearly done with the other boy.

"Well…I have…my older brother's…" Ron trails off his ears going bright red for a second time, "rat" he finishes as he pulls a rather scruffy-looking rat from his pocket.

Harry and Draco just look at each other before looking at Hermione who just raises an eyebrow, "My brothers, they taught me a spell to turn him yellow…It didn't work, though." Ron continues, oblivious to the amusement of the other three first years.

"Really? Every spell I've tried so far has worked for me." Hermione chimes in, and seeing the look of interest on her companions faces quickly continued, "Harry, can I see your glasses please?" she asks.

Harry removes his heavily spello-taped glasses and hands them over to the witch, "Sure, can't break them any worse, I suppose." he says with a laugh.

Hermione smiles and points her wand at the broken glasses, "Oculus Reparo," she says, with a swish of her wand, and once the glasses were fixed, she handed them back to Harry.

"Wow, thanks Hermione!" he exclaims as he puts the glasses back on.

"No problem, you boys should put on your robes, we will be there soon. I'm going to keep looking for Neville's toad," she says with a smile before leaving the compartment and closing the door.

The three boys quickly start pulling on their robes while Ron grumbled under his breath about "bushy-haired know it all's" while Draco and Harry rolled their eyes and continued to ignore the redhead.

Within moments the boys feel the train come to a stop and the booming voice of Hagrid can be heard calling for the first years, "Here we go" Harry mutters nervously before leaving the train with Draco and Ron on his heels.


	3. Friends

Hey everybody! Here is Chapter 3 for you! Sorry so much for the wait, but the next chapter is almost done too so it shouldn't be long! Ok guys so I am changing the rating for future plot development, when I put the rating on here I wasn't sure if I was keeping as a one-shot or not but now that I know where I want this to go I am ready to update this. Ok guys I feel like here is where I should put the disclaimer because this chapter and the next have a lot of direct passages from my copy of Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone. So here it is

Disclaimer: I do not own these characters or make any money from this or any story. All rights to Harry Potter belong to J.K.

So on that note, please enjoy! Thanks so much to my amazing Beta!

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"Firs' years! Firs' years over here! All right there, Harry?" the booming voice of Hagrid greets Harry as he steps off the train.

Harry motions with his head for Draco to follow him as he walks up to Hagrid, "Hey Hagrid!" Harry greets him with a grin before his face quickly pulls into a frown, "Hagrid, why didn't you tell me how to get onto the platform? I stood there like a complete berk until the Malfoys found me." he asks, still frowning.

Hagrids cheerful smile instantly melts off his face, "The Malfoys?" he asked quickly, his eyes zeroing in on Draco who stood a little taller under the scrutiny.

"Yes, this is Draco." Harry says with a slight edge to his voice as though daring Hagrid to say something about the Malfoys, "You didn't answer my question Hagrid."

"Uh sorry Harry, there's no time to chat." Hagrid says sheepishly before turning and calling out for the first years in a booming voice again.

Within minutes all the first years were following Hagrid like ducklings. Harry, Draco, and much to their chagrin Ron, were in the middle of the group so Harry felt comfortable turning to Draco. "People must not like your family, first Ron and now Hagrid." Harry states hoping Draco doesn't take it wrong.

"Of course they don't, Harry" Ron says as if it should be obvious. "They followed You-Know-Who, they are evil, no one would want to be seen with them or else people will wonder if they are evil too."

Harry glares at the redhead. "Then why are you hanging around him then Weasley?" he growls just as they turn a corner and see their year-mates who were ahead of them piling into boats, four per boat.

"Obviously I'm trying to protect you." Ron states, his chest puffing out in pride, "Some wizarding families are much better than others, Harry. You don't want to go making friends with the wrong sort." he finishes with a slight pleading note to his voice.

Harry whips his head around to glare fiercely at the red head, "I think I can tell who the wrong sort are for myself, thanks." he says in a deathly cold voice before turning back to the boats. "Come on Draco, I see room for us in Granger's boat." he says as he starts walking away, leaving a shocked Ron in his wake.

Draco sneers victoriously at the freckled boy before quickly turning around and following his newest friend.

"Hey Granger, can we ride with you and…Neville?" Harry asks assuming that the trembling boy clutching a toad in the boat with her was the boy she mentioned earlier.

Hermione's face breaks out into a huge smile, showing off her slightly bucked front teeth, "Of course, Harry." she exclaims as she pulls in her legs to make room for the two boys. "Oh, where are my manners!" she asks once everyone was settled in, "Neville Longbottom, this is Draco Malfoy." she says, motioning towards the blonde who nods politely at the other boy, "And this is Harry Potter" she continues nodding her head in Harry's direction.

Neville's inhales sharply before composing himself, "Nice to meet you again, Harry." he says with a smile.

"Again?" Harry asks with a small smile, confused but already liking the other boy.

Neville smiles even wider at the sign of Harry's acceptance, "Yeah, again, according to my grandmother we knew each other as babies. My mum and dad worked with your dad and, actually, my mum was your godmother." Neville says with a slight shrug.

"Oh, I didn't know that." Harry says sadly as the boat starts to move.

Neville smiles softly but with no hint of sympathy, "I figured. I'm lucky, at least I have my grandmother to tell me these things. I didn't know my parents either," he says sadly.

Harry's eyes shoot up to look closely at the boy he has so much in common with, "I'm sorry." he says sincerely, "Did Voldemort kill them too?" he asks curiously.

Neville, Hermione, and Draco wince slightly at the use of the Dark Lord's name, but quickly recover, "Actually, no," Neville says uncomfortably, looking nervously in Draco's direction, "They were tortured by one of his followers, Bellatrix Lestrange. She cursed them until they went mad, they have been in Saint Mungo's ever since." he says softly as he continues to look at Draco as if trying to figure the blonde boy out.

Harry looks between the two boys in confusion, "I'm sorry for that, Neville." he says sincerely, "But what does that have to do with Draco?" he asks slightly defensively, already completely fed up with people judging his new friend.

"Because, Harry," Draco says with a sigh, "Bellatrix is my aunt. She's been in Azkaban…prison…ever since." he says, clarifying what Azkaban was seeing the raven-haired boy's confusion.

"Oh." Harry says, anything further he was going to say got lost on his tongue when he looked up and got his first glimpse of Hogwarts. Gasps and exclamations came from all around Harry as each first year saw where they would be spending the next seven years of their lives.

"Merlin's sweet knickers!" Neville gasps in awe his eyes roving the castle as if trying to memorize it.

Any tension that was left in the boat from the previous conversation vanishes as the four first years burst out laughing; drawing confused looks from the boats closest to them. Once the four first-years had calmed down Neville looks at the others any hint of shyness gone now, "So where do you think you'll be sorted?" he asks the group in general.

"I'll be in Slytherin, there has never been a Malfoy who wasn't." Draco states smugly.

Harry chuckles at the blonde obvious assurance and house pride, "Well, I hope to be a Slytherin too." Harry says with a smile. "Draco is my first friend, and I want to be in the same house as him. And besides, Weasley say's he'll be in Gryffindor, so that is definitely out!" Harry says causing Draco and Hermione to chuckle along with him.

The boys all turn to look at Hermione expectantly as she sits there thinking for a moment, "If you would have asked me two hours ago I would have said Gryffindor." she says thoughtfully "But Harry's right about Ronald. I think I'd prefer Ravenclaw. From what I've read in _Hogwarts, A History_ that seems like the house that I'd be the most at home in. Of course I wouldn't turn my nose up at Slytherin, some one would have to make sure you boys kept up with your studies," she says with a small smirk at the pair of friends.

Harry chuckles softly, "Even if we are in different houses that doesn't mean you can't mother us, Hermione," he teases.

"What about you, Longbottom? Your family is historically Gryffindor isn't it?" Draco asks curiously.

Neville nods sadly, "Yeah they are, and my Gran expects me to be in Gryffindor too, but I'm with Harry here, you guys are my first friends and I want to be in the same house as you both, too." Neville says with a shy smile, "At least I hope we are friends."

Draco turns to Harry with a straight face, "I don't know, what do you say Potter? Are we friends with Longbottom?" he asks with a mischievous gleam in his eyes.

"I don't know Malfoy, he does have a toad…" Harry trails off playing along with Draco for a moment before he turns to a pale looking Neville and smiles, "Of course we are your friend you prat!" Harry exclaims with a laugh "And we would be proud to have you with us in Slytherin…assuming Draco doesn't end up in Hufflepuff." Harry says with a smirk as he dodges the swing the blonde takes at him.

"Stop it, both of you!" Hermione demands with a nervous glance at the lake, "if you capsize us the giant squid will get us!"

Harry and Draco instantly still and Harry looks unsurely over the edge of the boat, "Giant Squid?" he asks; Hermione responds with a solemn nod, Harry looks at Draco and both of them break out into a wide grin, "Wicked."


	4. Sorting

Hey guys look, two chapters in one night! Thanks again to my amazing Beta!

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Harry stood in line looking across the Great Hall with all the other first years. The sorting hat had just put a boy named Seamus Finnigan in Gryffindor when Hermione grabbed Harry's hand and squeezed tightly in a fit of nerves.

"Granger, Hermione!" Professor McGonagall called out sternly.

With one last squeeze, Hermione let go of Harry's hand and, with her head held high, confidently walked to the stool and quickly sat down. Harry watched as the sorting hat slipped down on the bushy-haired head until only Hermione's lips and chin were showing. Harry watched Hermione's lips move frantically as if she were arguing with the hat, finally after the longest wait yet, the brim of the hat opened and called "RAVENCLAW!"

Harry, Draco, and Neville looked at each other with huge smiles as they clapped enthusiastically for their friend knowing that the studious house was the best place for her. They were still clapping when the deputy headmistress called out "Longbottom, Neville!"

Neville's face went instantly white as he took a shaky step forward with one last look back at Draco and Harry, the latter whom gave him a thumbs up, with a shaky smile Neville walked to the stool and sat down. The hat took even longer to decided with the boy than it had for Hermione, but finally it yelled out "SLYTHERIN!"

Harry let out a little whoop of excitement that was, thankfully, drowned out by the thunderous, yet reserved, applause from the Slytherin table.

The sorting went on and Harry started to lose interest until McGonagall called out "Malfoy, Draco!"

Draco smirked at his friend and swaggered forwards and sat on the stool, the hat had barely touched his head when it screamed "SLYTHERIN!" Draco sent Harry another smirk and went to join Neville, looking pleased with himself.

Harry tuned out much of the rest of the sorting, only paying attention again when the surnames starting with P's were called. Harry took a deep breath and rubbed his sweaty hands on his robes, what if he got put in Gryffindor, what if he was stuck with that awful Weasley boy? Harry was yanked out of his internal worrying by the thick Scottish brogue of Professor McGonagall. "Potter, Harry!"

As Harry stepped forward, whispers suddenly broke out like little hissing fires all over the hall.

" _Potter_ , did she say?"

" _The_ Harry Potter?"

The last thing Harry saw before the hat dropped over his eyes was the hall full of people craning to get a good look at him, next second he was looking at the black inside of the hat. He waited.

"Hmm," said a small voice in his ear. "Difficult. Very difficult. Plenty of courage, I see. Not a bad mind, either. There's talent, oh my goodness, yes-and a nice thirst to prove yourself, now that's interesting…So where shall I put you?"

Harry gripped the edges of the stool and thought, "Not Gryffindor, not Gryffindor."

"Not Gryffindor, eh?" said the small voice. "Are you sure? You could be great, you know, it's all here in your head, and Gryffindor will help you on the way to greatness, no doubt about that-no? Well, if you're sure- better be SLYTHERIN!"

Harry yanked the hat off his head with a huge smile and quickly handed it back McGonagall before nearly running down to the Slytherin table to join his friends who, along with most of the table, greeted him with enthusiastic back slaps.

The rest of the sorting flew by with Harry cheering in relief when "Weasley, Ronald" got sorted into Gryffindor.

Finally the sorting was done and Harry was starving, as he was staring at this empty gold plate Professor Dumbledore rose to his feet and addressed the students, "Welcome!" he said. "Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we begin our banquet, I would like to say a few words. And here they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak! Thank you!" He sat back down. Everybody clapped and cheered. Harry didn't know whether to laugh or not.

"Is he...a bit mad?" he asked Draco causing Neville to choke out a strangled off laugh.

"Mad? Completely mental, barking! Father is the head of the Board of Governors and he's of the opinion that Dumbledore is too senile to continue to be Headmaster. But unfortunately the rest of the board disagrees, he's been trying for years to get the old coot sacked, but…" Draco trails off before grabbing a bowl that had just been empty a moment ago and handing it to Harry, "Potato's Harry?"

Harry gasps as he looks around the table, he had never seen so much food in his life, and within moments the eleven year old was piling food onto his plate like a man who hadn't eaten in a month. As Harry ate he made conversation with those around, most of whom wanted to congratulate Harry on being put into the superior house. During a lull in conversation Harry looked up at the head table to observe the staff for the first time. When Harry's eyes landed on Professor Quirrell he quickly slapped his hand to his forehead as his scar gave off a sharp painful throb.

"All right there, Harry?" Neville asked a concerned look on his face.

Harry nodded giving his scar one final rub as it continued to throb, but less intensely now that he wasn't looking at the Defense Professor, "Thanks, Nev." Harry says with a grateful smile at his friend.

Neville smiled back before turning back to his meal. Harry, his appetite gone, turned back to the head table only to find the dark haired professor next to Quirrell staring at him with a perplexed look on his face. "Draco, who's the professor next to Quirrell?" he asks, his eyes never leaving the professor.

Draco looked up from his plate before responding, "Oh, that's Severus…I mean Professor Snape, he's my godfather, the Potions Professor, and the head of Slytherin." Draco says with a smile, obviously proud of his godfather.

Harry was about to respond when Dumbledore stood again and the hall fell silent. "Ahem- just a few more words now we are all fed and watered. I have a few start-of-term notices to give you. First years should note that the forest in the grounds is forbidden to all pupils. And a few of our older students would do well to remember that as well." The Headmaster says with a pointed look at the Gryffindor table which caused a few of the older Slytherins to chuckle, there was obviously a story there. "I have also been asked by Mr. Filch, the caretaker, to remind you all that no magic should be used between classes in the corridors." Dumbledore continues. "Quidditch trials will be held in the second week of term. Anyone interested in playing for their house teams should contact Madam Hooch. And finally, I must tell you that this year, the third floor corridor on the right-hand side is out of bounds to everyone who does not wish to die a very painful death."

Harry frowned and turned to Neville and then Draco, "He's not serious, is he?" he asks hopefully.

Neville just shrugs and Draco mutters, "Told you he was barmy."

Harry just shakes his head as Dumbledore leads the school in singing the School Song.

Half an hour later finds all the Slytherin first years sitting in the green glow of the lights in the Slytherin common room awaiting their head of house. The prefect Giles instructed them to wait for Professor Snape to give them his customary welcoming speech. Each student was looking around in awe of their new home when the door to the common room opened and the head of Slytherin walked in, his robes billowing around him. "Welcome to Slytherin House." he starts, taking in each and every first year, "I wish I could tell you that your time here will be carefree and all you need worry about is keeping out of trouble, studying hard, and winning at Quidditch; but unfortunately, you are Slytherins. This institution, great as it is, does not treat all students equally. To be a Slytherin is to be punished for the sins of the past. During the war, a large portion of the Dark Lords followers came from our house, as too did the Dark Lord. The rest of the school, and much of wizarding society, takes their anger, fear, and hatred from the last war out on your house mates. To be a Slytherin is to be assumed dark, to be assumed a supporter of the Dark Lord, to be assumed a pureblood supremacist. Regardless of your stances on these issues, the assumptions will be made. That being said, I do not discourage forming friendships outside of your house, but know that Slytherin house has remained strong and safe by remaining united. I do not expect you all to get along, or like each other, what I do expect is for you to present a united front to the rest of the school. Any issues you have with each other remain behind this door." Snape says motioning to the common room door "Is that understood?" he asks intensely.

"Yes, sir." the entire group of first years says quickly.

Professor Snape nods, obviously satisfied with their response, "Now one last thing, I am first and foremost your head of house; as such I am available to you should you need me. I am not a nice man, but I will endeavor to not be cruel should you come to me with your problems. Now off to bed with you, I expect none of you to be late for classes on your first day."

"Yes, sir." the first years all say again as they watch their head of house sweep out of the common room in a sea of black robes.


	5. Potions Class

Hi guys! I'm so sorry this chapter took so long, my niece was born, and I started a new job! All the direct quotes in the chapter come from my copy of the Philosophers Stone and not the movie. Much thanks to my Beta Sablesilverrain. Enjoy!

The next morning found Harry sitting at the Slytherin table in the great hall having breakfast and chatting excitedly with his dorm mates. Last night, after Professor Snape left, the first years had retired to their dorms and Draco had introduced Neville and Harry to the other first year boys, with whom he was already acquainted. There was Theodore Nott, Vincent Crabbe, Gregory Goyle, and Blaise Zabini; the seven boys had stayed up until the early hours of the morning talking and getting to know each other and by the time Harry had crawled into his four poster bed he was feeling optimistic about having a good relationship with his dorm mates.

Harry was just reaching for the platter of bacon when he heard the sound of the beating of countless wings; instinctively, he looked up and was greeted with the sight of hundreds of owls flying into the Great Hall through the windows near the ceiling. "Wicked" he gasps, Draco looks at him curiously with an eyebrow raised in question, "I knew wizards use owls for post, obviously, but I hadn't thought about what daily post would look like."

Draco was about to respond when a magnificent black eagle owl landed in front of him and held out his leg. "Good morning, Achilles, what news do you bring from home?" Draco asks the owl in a cooing voice as he quickly unties the envelope from around its leg. Once Achilles was relieved of his burden he quickly took a piece of bacon from the platter in front of Harry and flew off. "I wrote home last night," Draco explains quickly, "this is probably mother and father's responses," the blonde says with a small smile as he quickly opens his letter. As Draco reads Harry continues his breakfast but is interrupted moments later by Draco handing him a piece of parchment, "Here, it's for you." was Draco's only explanation.

Harry frowns in confusion but takes the proffered parchment and begins to read the elegant cursive.

 _Dear Mr. Potter (may we call you Harry?)_

 _We were so pleased, when Draco wrote us last night, to hear you have been sorted into Slytherin. I know it must not mean much coming from two complete strangers, but we are very proud of you. Slytherin is a very exclusive house, therefore the sorting hat must have seen great potential in you for you to be placed there._

 _Lucius and I wanted to extend the invitation for you to join our family at our manor over the yuletide. We are taking the liberty of assuming that since you were raised by muggles you've never experienced a Yule (which is not the same as Christmas) and we would be honored to show you that aspect of your heritage. Of course, if you are feeling lonesome for your home and family we completely understand and encourage you to spend the holiday with your family._

 _We would also like to extend the offer of guidance to you Harry, being raised by muggles there will be many aspects of our world that will foreign to you and if you have any questions that Draco can't answer or you are uncomfortable asking him, please know that we would be pleased for you to write to us with these questions. Have an enjoyable term, Harry, and study hard; we hope to see you at Yule._

 _Sincerely,_

 _Narcissa and Lucius Malfoy._

Harry read the letter through twice with a smile on his face, he barely knew these people and already they were acting more caring towards him then his relatives ever had, it almost felt like what Harry assumed a family should feel like.

"What did Mother write you about?" Draco asks curiously as he spreads marmalade on his toast, having finished his letter moments before.

Harry looked at his friend with a huge smile on his face. "She wanted to congratulate me on making Slytherin, she said her and your father are proud of me. She also invited me to your place for Yule." He responded as he carefully folded the parchment and placed it back in his bag, fully intending on writing back after classes.

"You will join us for Yule, won't you?" Draco asks hopefully as he carelessly shoves his own letter into his bag.

"Of course! I don't want to go back ho... to the muggles for the holidays, I'd have asked to stay here if your parents hadn't offered." Harry says as if it was obvious, "But Draco, you will have to explain to me what Yule is and what your family does to celebrate. You mother said that Yule is a part of my heritage and that many aspects of our world will be foreign to me. I don't want that, I am a wizard I should know about my people and customs." He says thoughtfully, staring into his teacup.

" Don't worry, Harry, I'm sure Draco will help you, and I will too. I come from a pureblood family, too, so I know most of what you need to know." Neville says with a smile.

"Pureblood?" Harry questions but any answer the others were going to give him was cut off by one last owl flying to the Slytherin table and dropping an angry red letter on Neville's plate.

The entire Great Hall goes silent staring in horror. "Take it and run, Longbottom, it will be worse if it opens in here." Theodore says quickly, eyeing the letter like it was going to bite.

Neville apparently decided that Theo had given him sound advice and quickly picked up the letter and ran out of the Great Hall.

"What was that?" Harry asks confused at all the sympathetic expressions around the table.

"That, Mr. Potter, was a Howler." comes a deep velvety voice from Harry's right.

Harry quickly looks up and sees Professor Snape standing there, his hands full of papers. "Sir?" Harry asks still just as confused.

"A Howler, Mr. Potter, is a magical letter that records the writers voice and tone and relays it to the recipient. They are impossible to ignore since if they are not opened they will open themselves." Snape explains as he turns his head to the doors of the Great Hall when the sound of a woman's angry voice carries through the door, "I would imagine that the howler is from Lady Longbottom regarding Mr. Longbottom's placement into Slytherin."

Harry turns to the doorway with a sympathetic look on his face, "He did say his grandmother would be less than pleased." he noted sadly.

"Indeed, as both Mr. Longbottom's parents had been in Gryffindor as well as Lady Longbottom, I would imagine she'd want her only grandchild to follow in their footsteps." Professor Snape said with only a hint of a sneer. "No matter, here is your class schedule, Mr. Potter, I trust you'll relay Mr. Longbottom's to him."

Harry nodded as he took his and Neville's schedules before turning to Draco. "Hey, we have Transfigeration with the Ravenclaws first, lets go get Hermione and Neville so we aren't late."

Within ten minutes Harry, Draco, Neville, and Hermione were waiting outside the Transfigeration classroom, the first people to arrive thanks to Hermione's 'point me' spell. "Hey Neville, at breakfast you said something about being from a pureblood family, what does that mean?" Harry asks, his curiosity and the need to kill time getting the best of him.

Neville looks at Draco before turning to the raven-haired wizard. "Pureblood is a term used when referring to a witch or wizard who's every ancestor was magical. Draco and I are purebloods, Harry, your dad was a pureblood but your mum was muggle-born, so that makes you a half-blood. It's all rather silly but our world still puts stock in it." Neville explains.

"What do you mean, puts stock in it?" Hermione asks with a slight frown.

"I might as well explain this." Draco says reluctantly as he shares a meaningful look with Neville. "There are beliefs…prejudices…held mostly by the old pureblooded families, especially families whose political and magical beliefs aligned with the more…traditional ways. Families such as mine." Draco says trailing off with a frown before continuing. "These prejudices date back to the time of Merlin, they bubble down to the more pure your blood the better witch or wizard you are. There is a whole history behind these beliefs but for now what you need to know is that in these views, purebloods are at the top of the ladder, then half-bloods, blood-traitors, and, lastly, muggleborns. I was raised to despise muggles on the basis that they have no magic, and to hate muggleborns because they are bringing muggle customs into our world and diluting our culture. I'm not saying that I believe this, but it's just how I was raised." Draco continues, hastily adding the last bit seeing the murderous look on Hermione's face.

"So you're telling me," Hermione says, pausing to gather her thoughts, "that in this world of magic, because I am Muggleborn, I'm some how less than all three of you?" She asks, her anger and disgust clear on her face.

"No, Hermione, not everyone has these prejudices. And those aren't the only biases in our world, there are people who hate all purebloods because they believe that all purebloods followed You-Know-Who." Neville says quickly, wanting to avoid any unpleasantness.

Hermione nods, but continues frowning in deep thought, and was still frowning hours later when the four of them split up and the three Slytherins walked into the potions lab and took their seats.

The moment the three boys sat down at the table in the second row, on what was obviously becoming the Slytherin side of the room, Harry began pulling out parchment and his quill and ink pot. "What gives Harry?" Neville asks curiously, "You weren't like this in Transfiguration or charms."

Harry chuckles softly as he uncaps his inkpot and sets it gently into the inkwell holder in the table. "Potions is the class I've looked forward to the most! I read the textbook twice. It seems like a mixture of cooking and muggle chemistry!"

Draco shoots Neville a disbelieving look while shaking his head in an amused manner. "Ok, Harry," he says with a chuckle, "but if I know my godfather he's going to want to make a dramatic entrance and speech, don't take notes, even if what he says is important, just pay attention." Draco says only half jokingly.

"Right." Harry says seriously with a nod before laying his quill down next to his parchment.

Within seconds the door to the potions classroom swings open and Professor Snape stalks up to the front of the classroom and quickly takes role before turning to the class. "You are here to learn the subtle science and exact art of potion making. As there is little foolish wand-waving here, many of you will hardly believe this is magic. I don't expect you will really understand the beauty of the softly simmering cauldron with its shimmering fumes, the delicate power of liquids that creep through human veins, bewitching the mind, ensnaring the senses… I can teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory, even stopper death – if you aren't as big a bunch of dunderheads as I usually have to teach." The silence after Snapes speech was deafening.

Harry shifted slightly in discomfort, which obviously was the wrong thing to do because the moment he moved Snape's eyes focused in on him. "What would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?" He asked the class, but all the while keeping his eyes on Harry.

After a moment, in which no one offered the answer, Harry hesitantly raised his hand and with a nod from the Professor gave his answer. "The Draught of Living Death, Sir." Harry said with more confidence then he felt.

If Harry giving the correct answer shocked the intimidating man, he didn't show it. "Very good, Potter, five points to Slytherin. Shall we try again?" Snape asked giving the entire room a glance before his eyes landed back onto Harry. "Where would you look if I told you to find me a bezoar?" He asked.

This time Harry wasn't the only student to raise his hand, over on the Gryffindor side of the room, Ron Weasley raised his hand, obviously motivated by the house points Snape had awarded the Slytherins. With a raised eyebrow Professor Snape turned to the Gryffindors. "Mr. Weasley, do give us the answer."

Ron's chest puffed out in pride at being chosen to give the answer over the Boy-Who-Lived. "Well, a bezoar comes from a Bowtruckle nest, doesn't it?" He says with confidence.

Draco and Neville look at Harry who shakes his head while the rest of the class waits for Snape's assessment of the red-head's answer. "Did you even open your potions text before walking into my classroom, Weasley?" Snape sneers before adding almost as an afterthought, "Ten points from Gryffindor for wasting my time. Now, Mr. Potter," Snape says turning to face the only other person who raised their hand. "If you would be so kind as to tell myself and your classmates where you would find a bezoar."

"Yes, sir." Harry says quickly with a nod. "You'd look in the stomach of a goat."

"And what is the practical use of a bezoar, Mr. Potter?" Snape asks with a slight amused smirk.

Harry smiles slightly before confidently stating his answer, "If ingested, it will counteract most poisons."

"Correct again, Mr. Potter, ten points to Slytherin. Now, lets see if anyone but Potter has had the foresight to prepare for this class." Snape says with a sneer in Weasleys direction, "What is the difference between monkshood and wolfsbane?" He asks and waits for a moment for someone to raise their hand before turning to Harry who was frowning in deep thought as he tried to remember what he'd read. "No one?" Snape drawls, the amusement clear in his voice, "Well, Mr. Potter, can you answer this one as well?"

Harry's frown deepens for a moment before looking up at his professor. "I think so, Sir." He states before taking a deep breath, hoping he won't make a fool of himself. "Wolfsbane and monkshood are the same plant, aren't they, Sir?"

Snape's eyebrows raise slightly in surprise before he quickly schools his expression. "You tell me, Mr. Potter" He replies, a slight challenge in his voice.

Harry frowns again before nodding and all hesitation leaves his face. "They are, Sir. They are the same plant, and I think it's also called aconite, Sir." Harry says with confidence.

"Fifteen points to Slytherin, Potter." Snape says simply before turning around and setting the entire class to their task of brewing a boil-curing potion.

As Harry walked to the store cupboard, to gather the ingredients he, Draco, and Neville would need, he smiled and thought that he was in for a good year.


	6. Halloween

Hi guys! Look look 2 chapters in 24 hours! You will see in this chapter I skipped a few months, that's going to be normal now for this story, I have certain events I want to cover but there are a lot of years to go over here so there is going to be some time jumps guys. ENJOY!

"Fine Draco, I'll go talk to Snape!" Harry says exasperatedly. It was a week before Halloween and the blonde had been on Harry's case to go talk to the potions master for weeks.

Draco sighed, relieved that his best friend was seeing sense. "Thank you, Harry, you've been having these headaches since the first week of class. Do you want me to come with you?"

Harry shook his head, "No Draco, I'm a big boy," He says with a smirk before looking at his watch, "Snape has office hours right now, so I'll just go. Save me a spot at supper, yeah?"

"Of course, good luck." Draco says with an encouraging smile before turning and walking towards the Slytherin common room.

Harry sighed dejectedly as he turns and begins walking towards the potions master's office; he knows Draco is just worried about him but he hates all this fuss being made over a headache. Within minutes Harry is standing outside Professor Snape's office and, with one more sigh, he raises his fist and knocks firmly, wincing at the way the loud noise causes his headache to flare.

"Enter." The professor calls through the door. Harry pushes open the door and walks in, closing it behind him. "What is it, Mr. Potter?" Snape asks brusquely as he sets down his quill.

"Sorry to bother you, Sir, but I was wondering if you could teach me to make a headache cure? I know that is second year material, but I was hoping with your help I could be able to get it right. I'd pay for all the ingredients, Sir." Harry said quickly.

Snape frowns and pushes away the stack of parchment he was currently correcting and indicates for Harry to sit in the chair across from him, before responding, "And what, pray tell, do you need this headache potion for, Mr. Potter?" He asks curiously.

"For my headache." Harry responds quickly without thinking, grimacing at how his response sounded.

Snape obviously caught the inflection and responded with, "Watch your cheek, Potter."

Harry cringed slightly at the chastising tone in his head of house's voice, "Sorry, Sir."

Satisfied that there would be no more cheek Snape continued, "Surely you are aware that students do not have to brew their own headache potions, that you can in fact go to the Hospital Wing and request a potion from Madam Pomfrey?"

"I can't, Sir. She told me if I came to her with another headache she'd keep me over for observation." Harry said woefully.

The Potions Master frowned, obviously this wasn't just some random headache, "And how long have these headaches been occurring, Mr. Potter?" He asks.

Harry sighs, knowing now that he would have to explain everything to the professor, "Since the beginning of term, Sir."

"And exactly how often do you get them?"

Harry frowned before looking down at his hands, "I know this is going to sound ridiculous, but every time I have Defense class, Sir."

"Describe these headaches to me, Mr. Potter." Snape demands, a frown of intense concentration on his face.

"That's the thing, Sir." Harry says, "I've never had headaches like this before. I'm fine until I get to DADA, well actually until Professor Quirrell comes into the room. The moment he's in the room, my scar starts to ache." Harry says with a frown as he rubs his forehead as if to demonstrate which scar he meant, "And it just keeps aching until I end up with a pounding headache. Once I leave the classroom my scar stops hurting, but the headache lasts for hours."

Snape sits in silent contemplation for a few minutes before turning his attention back to the first year in front of him, "Does your head ache right now, Potter?"

"Yes, Sir, I just came from Defense." Harry explains.

With a nod Snape stands up and walks to one of the shelves behind his desk and quickly plucks a vial from the multitude housed there. "Drink this, Potter," The older wizard says as he hands the vial to Harry.

"Thank you, Sir." Harry says enthusiastically as he quickly downs the potion, only cringing slightly at the foul taste, within seconds the pounding in his head subsides, "That is so much better! What potion is this? The ones Madame Pomfrey gave me took nearly half an hour to kick in and it didn't even take away all the pain, this one worked instantly and completely!" The first year exclaims with a huge smile on his face.

"It is a potion of my own invention, Mr. Potter." Snape says simply as he retrieves the empty vial from Harry and banishes it to the sink in his laboratory.

"Wicked!" Harry exclaims before calming down a bit, "Could you teach me to brew this one, Sir?" He asks hopefully.

Snapes conceals the shock he feels at the first year's hopeful expression, he knew the boy did well in his class and seemed to enjoy the subject, but his instance on learning more potions than on the class syllabus was surprising. "We shall see, Mr. Potter. It is a rather advanced potion, even with my careful instruction you will not be ready to attempt it until after Christmas, I'm afraid. For now, I will provide you with a supply of these for you to take on days in which you have Defense. It could behoove you to take the potion before you enter the Defense classroom, it may prevent the headaches altogether. You will find a crate of this potion in your trunk. Once the crate is empty, I expect you to return to me and we will reassess the situation."

"Yes, Sir." Harry says with a bit of a dejected look on his face at not being able to learn to brew the potion, "Thank you Professor, I'll see you in class tomorrow." He says before turning around and exiting the office leaving a very confused Potions Master to contemplate why a headache potion laced with a dark magic antidote would cure the Slytherin's persistent problem when a basic headache cure would not.

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The next week was the best one Harry had had at Hogwarts yet, he was pain-free and he could actually focus in Defense Against the Dark Arts instead of focusing on his scar and headache. So it was with high spirits Harry, Draco, Neville, and Hermione walked into the Great Hall for the feast on Halloween.

"Well, I guess I'll see you three after the feast." Hermione says dejectedly as she stopped beside the Ravenclaw table.

Harry and Neville frown, wishing their friend could join them. Harry was about to speak up when Draco says, "You know Granger, there is no rule against students from other houses eating at different tables."

Hermione looks at Draco in disbelief before breaking out in a huge grin, "You know Malfoy, you may be a prat, but you are a smart prat," She says cheerfully before following the boys to the Slytherin table.

"Draco, why is she sitting here?" Comes the whiney voice of Pansy Parkinson once the four had settled into their spots on the benches.

The four first years sigh with exaggerated eye rolls, from their first day of classes Pansy had clung to Draco and scarcely left them alone. "Because Parkinson, she's our friend." Neville said for what felt like the millionth time, having explained their friendship with the Ravenclaw multiple times.

"But she's a …"

"I swear to Merlin, Pansy, if you say Mudblood, I will hex you." Draco hisses, completely fed up with the other Slytherin.

"But, Draco…" Pansy whines.

Harry sighs dramatically before leaning around Draco to see Pansy clearly, "Seriously Parkinson, drop it. Yes, Hermione is muggleborn, we know. Yes, you think you're better than her, we know. Yes, you have a crush on Draco and you think she's what's keeping him from giving you the time of day, we know." Harry says as if he was stating well known facts, causing the rest of the Slytherins in hearing distance to chuckle.

Pansy's face screws up in fury. "Sod off Potter, what do you know anyways, you're barely better than a mudblood anyway. What your father must have been thinking, marrying your mother…" She trails off with a cruel sneer.

"At least I don't believe that a person's blood makes them better than someone else." Harry states simply, leveling a cool glare at the girl.

Pansy was spared a response when the four friends became distracted by the huge feast appearing on the table.

As the group of friends ate conversation flowed freely over topics of classes, Quidditch, how Weasley made a fool of himself in Potions, and how Harry's headaches had ended. The cheery conversation came to sudden halt when the doors of the Great Hall slammed open and Professor Quirrell ran down the center isle screaming "Troll-in the dungeons-thought you ought to know." Before fainting dead away in the middle of the room.

The entire Great Hall erupted into a panicked roar, "A troll? I've never seen a troll before!" Harry exclaims excitedly, not really understanding everyone else's panic.

Harry's friends didn't have a chance to respond before Dumbledore instructed the Prefects to escort the students back to their common rooms, before rushing off with the other professors.

During the complete panic of getting everyone back to their common rooms somehow Draco was able to drag his three friends away and hide in a dark corner in the entrance hall. "The troll is in the dungeons, that's where our common room is, like hell I'm going there," He explains rationally, trying to keep the others from seeing how afraid he was.

"Then why did you drag me in here? My common room is on the opposite side of the castle," Hermione pointed out with her hands on her hips, her disapproval for breaking the rules obvious.

Draco frowns for a moment, looking at his house mates for help, but Harry and Neville just shrugged, "Um…safety in numbers, don't you think?" He said quickly.

The boys were spared Hermione's opinion on that explanation by Harry quickly shushing everyone, "Look!" He whispers.

The entire group turned towards where Harry was pointing and saw Professor Quirrell walking out of the Great Hall looking around quickly before walking towards the stairs.

"Why isn't he going to the dungeon with the others?" Harry asks curiously.

"It's not our business Harry, lets go to our common rooms." Hermione says quickly.

Harry frowns at his bushy haired friend before looking back towards the staircase, "Fine, Hermione, go back, but I'm going to find out what Quirrell is up to!" Harry says determinedly.

"I'm coming with you," Says Neville quickly while giving both Draco and Hermione pointed looks.

Draco sighs dramatically before rolling his eyes, "Someone has to make sure you both don't get killed." Before turning his ice blue eyes towards the Ravenclaw, "Well, Granger?"

"Fine, but if we get expelled over this, I will never forgive you!" Hermione hisses as she turns around and follows the path Quirrell had taken. "Well?" she demands when the boys don't make any immediate moves to follow.

The three Slytherins look at each other before shrugging and following after her with a muttered, "Mental," from Draco.

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"A bloody three-headed dog! Why would there be a three-headed dog in the bleeding castle?" Draco demands in an outraged whisper twenty minutes later when the four first years are hurrying away from the room in the third floor corridor where Quirrell had disappeared into.

"The better question, Mr. Malfoy," comes the deep drawl of Professor Snape from behind them, causing the group of first years to freeze, "is what four first years who are supposed to be in the common rooms are doing wandering the castle when there is a troll on the loose."

Harry turns around to face the professor, followed quickly by the others, "Sir, we were following Professor Quirrell. We saw him come out of the Great Hall after everyone left and instead of going to the dungeons with the rest of you he took off to the forbidden corridor. He went into a room that had a three-headed dog in it!" Harry explains quickly hoping that his head of house doesn't punish them too badly.

Snape stopped in the middle of what looked to be the start of a rant with a frown on his face, "Are you certain, Potter?" He asks quickly.

"Yes, Sir." Harry responds getting nods of assent from the other three first years.

In less than a second, Professor Snape had turned around and began hurrying down the hallways, "Get back to your common rooms." He calls back to the four eleven year olds. "Oh, and five points from Ravenclaw and five points from Slytherin."


	7. The Headmaster

Hi everbody! I'm sorry about the long wait for the update, unfortunately that's just how I roll, I can only write when I'm in a certain mood sooooo. Hope you guys enjoy!

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Harry and Draco were walking back to the Slytherin common room after dinner the night before everyone was to leave for Christmas break when they see Professor Dumbledore striding towards them. "Ah, Mr. Potter, Mr. Malfoy, just the two first years I was looking for. If you wouldn't mind I'd like to speak with you both in my office," the old man says with a friendly smile.

The two Slytherins look at each other, confused since the Headmaster had never spoken to either of them before. "Of course, Sir." Harry answers for the both of them.

"Splendid!" The headmaster exclaims, clapping his hands once in delight before turning around and heading in the direction he had come from, expecting the two first years to follow him.

Draco and Harry follow the older wizard in silence, both trying to figure out what the famous wizard wanted.

Within minutes Dumbledore stops in front of a gargoyle and quickly says "Fizzing Whizbees," causing the gargoyle to spring aside. "Follow me please, gentlemen," the older wizard says cheerily as he begins the trek up the stairs.

Harry follows the headmaster without hesitation while Draco murmurs something under his breath that Harry thought sounded like "Barmy" before following his dark haired friend.

A few minutes later both first years were sitting in overstuffed armchairs in front of the headmaster's desk staring around them in wonder at all the different magical knick-knacks that filled the office. "I suppose you boys are wondering why I asked you here." Dumbledore states, startling both boys and causing them to refocus on older wizard.

"Yes, Sir." Harry says warily.

"I thought so," Dumbledore says cheerily before reaching across the desk and grabbing a bowl and offering it to the first years. "Lemon drop?" he asks, and once both boys decline he sets the bowl down. "Well gentlemen, the reason I asked you here is because professor Snape informed me of what you saw on Halloween. And while you both, Mr. Longbottom, and Ms. Granger are not in trouble, I wanted to confirm with you two what happened."

Harry and Draco look at each other for a moment while the headmaster focuses his twinkling blue eyes on Harry, "Well, Sir," Harry starts with a sigh, "We were in the Entrance Hall when we saw Professor Quirrell come out of the Great Hall and walk up the stairs instead of following you and the other Professors to the dungeons. I thought he was acting strangely and decided to follow him. We ended up following him to the third floor corridor, the one that is forbidden. He went into a room that was locked and when he hadn't come out after fifteen minutes we decided to look in the room, only Professor Quirrell wasn't there, but there was a massive three headed dog in there and a trap door in the floor was open."

"You are absolutely sure that was the room Professor Quirrell entered?" Dumbledore asks, his eyes never leaving Harry.

"Yes, Sir." Draco says with a slight frown, not liking the way the older man was staring at his friend.

The headmaster sighed nodding his head thoughtfully, "Very well. Thank you boys for clearing this up." He says in a clear dismissal.

Both Slytherins nod before standing up and walking to the door.

"Oh, one second Harry, I noticed you had not signed up to remain here over the Christmas break, if you would give my regards to your Aunt and Uncle I would appreciate it." Dumbledore says, causing both boys to stop on their way out the door.

Harry frowns before both him and Draco turn around to face the headmaster, "I can't, Sir, I was invited to Draco's house to celebrate Yule and I accepted." Harry says with an excited smile.

The twinkle in Dumbledore's eyes dims slightly and his smile drops, "I'm sorry Harry, but students are only allowed to go to their homes if they are leaving for the holidays. I will inform Professor Snape that you will be staying, unless you wish to go see your family…" the older man trailed off.

"Headmaster, my father is the head of the board of governors, surely an exception can be made." Draco implores before Harry answers.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Malfoy, Harry will not be attending Yule at Malfoy Manor." Dumbledore says before turning back to Harry "So will you be staying at the castle for Christmas, Harry?"

"I suppose I don't have much choice," Harry says sadly before turning around and leaving the headmaster's office with as much dignity as possible, quickly descending the stairs and then all but running towards the Slytherin common room, wanting to put as much space between him and the headmaster as possible.

"Harry! Harry, wait!" Draco calls out after his friend trying to keep pace while retaining his Malfoy composure.

"Leave me alone, Draco." Harry mutters moodily when the blonde catches up to him at the entrance to the dungeons, "I need to unpack my trunk, excuse me." Harry all but whispers as he begins walking again, trying to hold in the tears of disappointment that are trying to fall.

"Harry, wait." Draco demands as he reaches out and grabs his friends arm, "You are coming to the manor, so no need to unpack." Draco says sternly, a look of determination on his face.

"But the headmaster-"

"Oh sod the headmaster! I have a plan," Draco says with a smirk.

Five minutes later the two first years were standing outside of their head of house's office waiting for the Potions Master to answer the door, "But Draco, what can Professor Snape do?" Harry asks, trying not to get his hopes up.

"Just trust me," Draco says as the door to Snape's office opens, revealing the dark haired professor.

Snape takes in the appearance of his two first years, noticing the dejected look on Potter's face and the mischievous gleam in his godson's eyes, "Come in, gentlemen." He says stepping aside for the boys to enter, "What can I do for you?" Snape drawls once he had closed the door behind them.

Harry and Snape look at Draco expectantly before the blonde squares his shoulders and looks up at his godfather, "Uncle Severus," Draco starts out, his lack of formality showing the professor that this isn't a student coming to a teacher but a child coming to a member of his family, "May I use your floo? I need to contact father."

Severus frowns, "Surely what ever you need to discuss with your father can wait until tomorrow, Draco," He says not unkindly.

Draco shakes his head enthusiastically, "No Uncle Sev, it can't," he says with a pleading look in his eyes.

Snape looked down at his normally stoic godson and a very confused looking Potter before sighing in a very put upon manner, "Very well, is my office floo acceptable or do you require access to my private chambers?" he asks with a heavy dose of sarcasm as he walks to his desk and removes a jar of floo powder from a warded drawer.

Draco frowns in thought for a moment, "Can the floo in here be used for travel not just communication?"

The elder Slytherin nods with a raised eyebrow.

"Then here is perfect, thank you, Uncle Severus." Draco says with genuine gratitude as he accepts the offered pot of floo powder before walking to the fireplace and throwing a small handful of the powder into the fire calling out "Malfoy Manor." and sticking his head in the flames causing Harry to gasp in surprise.

"Never witnessed a floo call, Mr. Potter?" Snape asks holding in the sneer that was threatening to appear.

Harry shook his head, never taking his wide eyes off his friend, "No, Sir, I've read about floo travel and communication, but seeing it happen is still a shock."

"Indeed." Snape drawls, and after a moment of silence looks back down at the enthralled first year, "Now Potter, care to tell me what the emergency floo call is about?"

Harry tears his eyes away from the fireplace to look up at his head of house, "Professor Dumbledore just informed me that I am forbidden to go to Draco's house for Yule. Draco thinks he waited until tonight to tell me, so that we would have no way to find a way for me to go." Harry says forlornly.

"And Draco, naturally, decided to contact his father immediately." Severus concludes with a smirk.

"It would appear so, Sir." Harry says as his friend removes himself from the fire.

"Father is coming through," Draco says brusquely as he brushes dust off the knees of his trousers while clearing the path for the older Malfoy to exit the hearth.

Within seconds Lucius Malfoy is stepping out of the large fireplace, his walking stick tapping on the stone floor as he walks towards where the two first years and the professor are standing. "Severus, thank you for allowing Draco and I to make use of your floo, we appreciate it." the elder blonde says as he shakes hands with his friend.

"Of course, Lucius." Snape says, returning the handshake.

After a few quick pleasantries, Lucius turns to face his son and the Boy-Who-Lived, crouching down to be at eye level with the boys. "Hello again Harry, Draco informed me of what Dumbledore said, shall we see if I can change his mind? Assuming you still wish to join us for the holidays."

Harry's face goes from dejected to ecstatic in a split second, "Oh, Mr. Malfoy, if you could that would be amazing! I was really looking forward to spending Yule with your family."

Lucius smiles softly before nodding his head and standing. "Well then, let us go to the Headmasters office, are you joining us Severus?" he asks as he leads the two first years to the door.

Snape snorts with a sneer, "As if I'd miss this for all the gold in Gringotts."

It seemed like mere moments before the four Slytherins were standing outside the headmaster's office door, with a smirk at the first years and the blonde wizard, Snape was knocking confidently on the door.

"Come in." Dumbledore calls cheerfully as the door opens on its own. "Ah Lucius, what can I do for you this evening?" the headmaster asks, the smile on his face looking a little forced, as the group enter his office.

Lucius walks over to the headmasters desk, leaving the two first years with Severus to stand near the door, "Albus," the blonde says curtly, "I have been led to understand that you have refused to allow young Mr. Potter to accompany my son to our home to learn about and celebrate Yule," Lucius states, his face an impassive mask and his voice cold.

"Won't you sit down, Lucius?" Dumbledore asks as he motions to the armchairs that the first years had so recently sat in, when the Malfoy patriarch stayed where he was, only raising an eyebrow in derision, the headmaster let out a sigh before responding. "Yes Lucius, I did. Unless a student is returning to their home for the holidays they are to stay at the castle, you know this."

"What I know, Dumbledore, is that as the head of the Board of Governors, I am required to be knowledgeable of all the rules, past and present, that govern the running of this school, its staff, and students. And while it is a common practice for those who cannot or do not wish to return home during the Yuletide to stay at the school, it is not a rule." Lucius states, pausing a moment to let the older man realize that the Slytherin wasn't going to let this go, "As headmaster you are responsible for the students in the school and on the train, once the train arrives at platform nine and three-quarters any authority you have over a student ends until they re-board the train after the holidays. Also, as headmaster, you do not have the authority to forbid a student from boarding the train at the end of a term."

The room remained silent for a moment while Lucius's words were absorbed by all present. The silence only lasted a few seconds before the headmaster spoke, "Now, Lucius, surely you can see I was only looking out for what is best for Harry. He can safely celebrate Christmas here."

Lucius takes a step closer to the desk, his previously blank face taking on an angry appearance as he glares at the old man, "Are you suggesting, Albus," he hisses in a deathly cold voice, "That the home of your _employer_ is unsafe?" Lucius asks rhetorically, stressing the word employer, "Or seeing as you insisted he celebrate Christmas, are you perhaps reluctant to have young Mr. Potter educated in the ways of his ancestors, to learn the ancient traditions of our people?"

"Of course not Lucius, but surely…" Dumbledore starts only to be cut off by a smug looking Lucius.

"Excellent, I expect to see Mr. Potter at Kings Cross tomorrow then, good day." Lucius says curtly before spinning on his heal and walking out of the office, with the two first years and Severus in tow.

As the four Slytherins enter the corridor Harry turns to his friend and with a good-natured smile whispers, "Remind me never to piss your father off, he is bloody scary."


	8. Conversations and Choices

Hey guys! Here is a new chapter for you! So sorry about the wait, I've loved the feedback and the requests for more! I can't promise I'll update more frequently but I do want you to know that neither this story or Kiss Me Like You Want To Be Loved is abandoned! So a few words about this chapter, it's all dialog and I'd classify it as boring BUT this chapter is HUGE for the plot! HUGE! So you can't really skip it and it needed to happen! As always a huge huge thank you to my lovely Beta Sablesilverrain without whom you wouldn't have such polished chapters to read! Hope you enjoy this chapter and hope it shows you the direction this story is going in.

"What in the name of Merlin is that?" Harry asks as he slowly backs away from the wrinkly creature with huge floppy ears that was reaching for his re-enlarged trunk.

At the look of panic on his friend's face Draco falls into a fit of hysterical laughter.

"That, Harry, is Dobby, he's a house elf." Lucius answers as he shoots Draco a disapproving look.

"A house elf is a magical creature that binds themselves to a wizarding family in servitude. They live to serve, it is their great joy in life, because of this many traditional families own at least one elf." Narcissa explains seeing the confused look on Harry's face.

Harry frowns slightly before turning to his friend, "I don't think we should tell Hermione about house elves, I don't think she'll take it very well."

"You're probably right, besides we don't need to give her another soap box to stand on. She's still trying to find a way to abolish the social hierarchy in our society." Draco says with a slight sneer.

"Is this your muggle born friend, dears?" Narcissa asks after directing Dobby to take the boys' trunks to their rooms.

Harry nods, "Yes, Mrs. Malfoy. She isn't impressed about Muggleborns being so low on the social ladder. She's been doing research since September trying to figure out how this came about and how to change it"

Lucius lets out a rather undignified sigh as he turns towards a door on the other side of the foyer and motions for his family and Harry to follow him, if they were going to have this discussion they were going to do it with a proper cuppa. Once the Malfoys and their guest were sitting comfortably in the main drawing room with tea and biscuits Lucius picks the conversation back up from where it ended, "I'd like to have a conversation with this Ms…Granger, was it?" he starts as he sets down his cup on its saucer, "While I agree there needs to be a social reform in our society I don't think trying to abolish the hierarchy completely is the way to go. I believe there needs to be more education on both sides of this, the people who were raised with magic need to learn more about muggle culture and muggle raised children coming into our world need to be educated on the ways of our people."

Draco stares at his father trying to not let his jaw drop in shock, this is not what he had expected from the elder Malfoy, having become accustomed to hearing him preach about Pureblood Supremacy for as long as he could remember.

However; before Draco could voice his surprise Harry speaks up his voice uncertain and hesitant, "Is that why you invited me for Yule? Because I'm muggle raised and need education."

Narcissa and Lucius look at each other silently communicating through their eyes alone. Draco looks to his best friend a look of sympathy on his face, sad that this is how Harry was to learn that Slytherins always have more than one reason for doing what they do and there is always an ulterior motive.

"Harry," Narcissa says softly after an apparent decision had been made between her and her husband, "there are many reasons why we invited you here this Yuletide, and Lucius and I are prepared to be as honest and forthcoming with these reasons as you want us to be. Slytherins always have more than one agenda for the things that they do and very rarely do they share those agendas with others, surely you have realized that in the last term?"

Harry nods his understanding, "I have noticed that, and I've trying very hard to hide my emotions and thoughts better. Blaise told me that I was easier to read than a book and that Crabbe had more of a mask then me." The raven-haired boy said softly, looking ashamed of himself.

"Blaise should learn to keep his nose out of other peoples' business." Draco grumbled, not at all impressed that his dorm mate had caused his friend to feel so insecure.

Harry looks at his friend with a small smile on his lips, "No Draco, he was right, I need to be more composed if I ever want to fit in with the other Slytherins and have people stop seeing me only as the Boy-Who-Lived." Harry states firmly before turning back to the two adults who were looking at him with pride, "I know how big of a deal your offer is, I would very much like to know why I was invited here." Harry finishes, trying to be as mature as he could be, liking the proud way the elder Malfoys were looking at him.

Narcissa gives Harry a warm smile before taking a sip of her tea, "Well, Harry, the main reason we initially thought of inviting you to our home was because you were alone at Kings Cross, it was obvious that neither your guardians nor Dumbledore cared enough to ensure your safe arrival at Hogwarts." Narcissa pauses to allow the first year to ask questions but seeing the distinctly uncomfortable look on Harry's face she decides to move on, "The next reason is actually many small reasons combined; has Draco told you of our families allegiances in the last war?" she asks warily, knowing that this would be a delicate topic.

"Yes, you followed Vol…The Dark Lord." Harry mutters seeing all three Malfoy's cringe at the possibility of Voldemort's name being said.

Narcissa and Lucius both nodded, not about to deny it, "We did, do you know why?" she asks and once Harry shook his head to the negative she continued, "We followed him because in the beginning he was about change, political and social change. His ideas were revolutionary and aligned with our desires, he was charismatic and when he spoke about the world he hoped to create. It filled us with hope as it had done for our parents. It wasn't until much later, after we had pledged ourselves to him, that he became discouraged. All of his movements in the political sphere had been crushed by Dumbledore and those who believe Light magic is the only magic to be practiced; our Lord became frustrated and decided violence was the only way to incite change. From there things changed, meetings where filled with pain and rage, his goals changed as did he. By the time Draco was born Lucius and I were regretting joining him; the man, if he could be called that at this point, was no longer the one we gave our loyalty to. It was his attempt to kill you that made our minds up for us, the fact he tried to kill a toddler, no older than our own son, made us decide that should he ever return we did not want to be by his side." Narcissa paused for a moment to allow both first years to process all she had just said as this was the first her son had heard of it as well. Once both boys were looking less dazed Narcissa continued, "The way the our world is divided right now, Harry, is light and dark. Those who identify with the light spurn the old ways and darker magics and are wholly accepting of muggleborns and the muggle culture thinking it novel and exciting. Those who identify with the dark practice the old ways, and many of the very dark rituals and magics, they believe the muggleborns have no place in our world as they dilute the bloodlines and our culture. Then there are those, like Lucius and myself who are grey, we believe some where in the middle of those two ideologies, but because of the way our world is right now there is only black or white, if you aren't light you are dark and vice versa. And since we are unwilling to renounce the old ways, the ways of our ancestors, we are believed to be dark. We do not deny it because currently there is no Grey faction in our world, and should The Dark Lord return we would be viewed as traitors and our lives would be forfeit." Narcissa stops to take a drink of her tea wetting her throat.

"Mrs. Malfoy, I don't understand what this has to do with you inviting me here." Harry admits after thinking about it for a few moments.

Lucius chuckles and rests his hand on his wife's knee before taking over where she left off, "Because, Harry, we do want to educate you. At Hogwarts all you are going to learn is Light magic because Dumbledore had all Dark and Grey magic removed from the curriculum, as well as all our traditional holidays and rituals. We want you to be educated in the ways of your ancestors and learn what being the heir to the house Potter entails and your responsibilities. We want to educate you so that when you are done at Hogwarts you will be able to function in our society. We want to educate you so, when the time comes and The Dark Lord returns you can make an educated choice as to where you stand. Dumbledore will insist you be the hero for the Light, and many will try to sway you to the Dark. We want you to know all your options and have your own beliefs by that point so you are not a pawn to either side." Lucius states bluntly before continuing with a smirk, "Our hope is you end up starting a third political faction for the Grey but we will not influence you thusly. The whole point of this is for you to be able to know your own mind and make your own choices."

Harry sits in silence for what seems like an hour but in reality it was just minutes as he processes all he'd heard. "This is why Professor Dumbledore didn't want me to spend Yule here, he doesn't want me to be influenced from the Light." Harry said with certainty, breaking the silence.

"Correct." Lucius said with a small smile, impressed at the eleven year old's ability to connect the dots.

Harry looks up from where he had been fiddling with his teacup and saucer to determinately meet the eyes of all three Malfoy's, " Never in my life have I been given answers, or choices. You have given me both. I want to learn."


End file.
